-
74Some Thoughts on Wesley Salmon’s Contributions to the Philosophy of ProbabilityPhilosophy of Science 71 (5): 942-949. 2004.Wesley Salmon provided three classic criteria of adequacy for satisfactory interpretations of probability. A fourth criterion is suggested here. A distinction is drawn between frequency‐driven probability models and theory‐driven probability models and it is argued that single case accounts of chance are superior to frequency accounts at least for the latter. Finally it is suggested that theories of chance should be required only to be contingently true, a position which is a natural extension o…Read more
-
64Explanation as Condition SatisfactionPhilosophy of Science 81 (5): 1103-1116. 2014.It is shown that three common conditions for scientific explanations are violated by a widely used class of domain-independent explanations. These explanations can accommodate both complex and noncomplex systems and do not require the use of detailed models of system-specific processes for their effectiveness, although they are compatible with such model-based explanations. The approach also shows how a clean separation can be maintained between mathematical representations and empirical content
-
61Data Analysis: Models or Techniques? (review)Foundations of Science 18 (3): 579-581. 2013.In this commentary to Napoletani et al. (Found Sci 16:1–20, 2011), we argue that the approach the authors adopt suggests that neural nets are mathematical techniques rather than models of cognitive processing, that the general approach dates as far back as Ptolemy, and that applied mathematics is more than simply applying results from pure mathematics
-
51Self‐Assembling SystemsPhilosophy of Science 73 (5): 595-604. 2006.Starting with the view that methodological constraints depend upon the nature of the system investigated, a tripartite division between theoretical, semitheoretical, and empirical discoveries is made. Many nanosystems can only be investigated semitheoretically or empirically, and this aspect leads to some nanophenomena being weakly emergent. Self-assembling systems are used as an example, their existence suggesting that the class of systems that is not Kim-reducible may be quite large.
-
49Emergence, Not SuperveniencePhilosophy of Science 64 (S4). 1997.I argue that supervenience is an inadequate device for representing relations between different levels of phenomena. I then provide six criteria that emergent phenomena seem to satisfy. Using examples drawn from macroscopic physics, I suggest that such emergent features may well be quite common in the physical realm.
-
45Computational ModelsPhilosophy of Science 69 (S3). 2002.A different way of thinking about how the sciences are organized is suggested by the use of cross-disciplinary computational methods as the organizing unit of science, here called computational templates. The structure of computational models is articulated using the concepts of construction assumptions and correction sets. The existence of these features indicates that certain conventionalist views are incorrect, in particular it suggests that computational models come with an interpretation th…Read more
-
45The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Science (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2014.This handbook provides both an overview of state-of-the-art scholarship in philosophy of science, as well as a guide to new directions in the discipline. Section I contains broad overviews of the main lines of research and the state of established knowledge in six principal areas of the discipline, including computational, physical, biological, psychological and social sciences, as well as general philosophy of science. Section II covers what are considered to be the traditional topics in the ph…Read more
-
45Computational Science and its EffectsIn M. Carrier & A. Nordmann (eds.), Science in the Context of Application, Springer. pp. 131--142. 2011.
-
43Emergence: A Philosophical AccountOup Usa. 2016.Emergence develops a novel account of diachronic ontological emergence called transformational emergence and locates it in an established historical framework. The author shows how many problems affecting ontological emergence result from a dominant but inappropriate metaphysical tradition and provides a comprehensive assessment of current theories of emergence.
-
38Emergence: A Philosophical AccountOup Usa. 2016.Emergence develops a novel account of diachronic ontological emergence called transformational emergence and locates it in an established historical framework. The author shows how many problems affecting ontological emergence result from a dominant but inappropriate metaphysical tradition and provides a comprehensive assessment of current theories of emergence.
-
35Models as mediators: Perspectives on natural and social science (ideas in context, vol. 52) - M. S. Morgan and M. Morrison (eds.), Cambridge university press, cambridge, 1999, 401 pp., US $24.95 pbk, ISBN 0521655714 (review)Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 33 (2): 374-377. 2002.
-
34Mathematical Modeling in the Social SciencesIn Stephen P. Turner & Paul A. Roth (eds.), The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Blackwell. 2003.This chapter contains sections titled: Why Use Mathematical Models? Theory‐based Models Data‐based Modeling Computational Approaches Conclusions Notes.
-
34Letters to the EditorProceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 69 (5). 1996.
-
29Inference, Method, and Decision (review)International Studies in Philosophy 12 (1): 90-91. 1980.
-
28This collects some of the remarks made at the 2016 Pacific APA Memorial session for Patrick Suppes and Jaakko Hintikka. The full list of speakers on behalf of these two philosophers: Dagfinn Follesdal; Dana Scott; Nancy Cartwright; Paul Humphreys; Juliet Floyd; Gabriel Sandu; John Symons.
-
27The New Theory of Reference: Kripke, Marcus, and its origins (edited book)Kluwer Academic Publishers. 1998.This collection of essays is the definitive version of a widely discussed debate over the origins of the New Theory of Reference. In new articles, written especially for this volume, Quentin Smith and Scott Soames, the original participants in the debate, elaborate their positions on who was responsible for the ideas that Saul Kripke presented in his Naming and Necessity. They are joined by John Burgess, who weighs in on the side of Soames, while Smith adds a further dimension in discussing the …Read more
-
27Book Reviews : Jon Elster, Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989. Pp. viii, US$34.50 (cloth), US$9.95 (paper (review)Philosophy of the Social Sciences 21 (1): 114-121. 1991.
-
26This book provides a post-positivist theory of deterministic and probabilistic causality that supports both quantitative and qualitative explanations. Features of particular interest include the ability to provide true explanations in contexts where our knowledge is incomplete, a systematic interpretation of causal modeling techniques in the social sciences, and a direct realist view of causal relations that is compatible with a liberal empiricism. The book should be of wide interest to both phi…Read more
-
21Models as mediators: perspectives on natural and social scienceStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 33 (2): 374-377. 2002.
-
21Scientific knowledgeIn M. Sintonen, J. Wolenski & I. Niiniluoto (eds.), Handbook of Epistemology, Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 549--569. 2004.
-
21Conceptual Sea ChangesSpontaneous Generations 4 (1): 111-115. 2010.The reshaping of much scientific research around computational methods is not just a technological curiosity. It results in a significant reshaping of conceptual and representational resources within science in ways with which many traditional philosophical positions are ill-equipped to cope. Some illustrations of this are provided and a consequence for the roles of science and the arts is noted
-
21Publisher's noteFoundations of Science 1 (3): 1-1. 1995.As Chinese Studies in Philosophy enters its twenty-fifth year, we wish to thank the editor since its inception, Professor Cheng Chung-ying of the University of Hawaii, for his many years of service, and to welcome with this issue our new editor, Professor Michael Schoenhals of Stockholm University
Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Science, Logic, and Mathematics |
Areas of Interest
Science, Logic, and Mathematics |
Computer Science |